Microwave and millimeter wave circuits (e.g., such as those associated with wideband planar baluns, filters, and antenna systems, etc.) and associated systems (e.g., wireless communication systems, etc.) can employ waveguides such as substrate integrated waveguides (SIWs), laminated waveguides, or post-wall waveguides, which can be considered as waveguides integrated in substrates. Conventional SIWs have been demonstrated in the various applications of filters, power combiners and dividers, couplers, antennas, and so on. However, transitions or transducers between SIWs and other transmission lines require particular performance and design considerations as well as component integration considerations.
In addition, conventional wideband transitions or transducers from planar transmission lines to SIW are typically designed for the dominant mode of SIW, namely, the transverse electric mode 10 (TE10 mode). However, as SIW deployment in electronic systems increases, higher order mode (e.g., transverse electric mode 20 (TE20 mode), etc.) components associated with SIWs have become the subject of increasing research. For instance, conventional higher order mode SIW components for antenna systems operating in millimeter wave bands have been proposed.
However, limitations of various conventional transition or transducer structures or feeding technologies exist. For example, conventional transition or transducer structures for higher order mode SIW components are complex, thereby increasing fabrication costs, the bandwidth of conventional transition or transducer structures is relatively narrow, and so on. Accordingly, improvements that provide a wideband direct transition or transducer to higher order mode waveguides should simplify the transition or transducer structures, with associated reductions in fabrication cost, and should enhance performance stability of the transition or transducer structures by incorporating relaxed fabrication tolerances.
The subject disclosure provides embodiments that improve upon these and other deficiencies. The above-described deficiencies of conventional transition or transducer structures for higher order mode waveguide components are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional implementations, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with conventional implementations and techniques and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.